Wheel lathe

Abstract

There is provided a wheel lathe in which the wheelset center of wheels and a spindle center can be aligned in a simple structure without using a centering part for synchronous lowering from above, and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center is measured at the position of a point along the circumference of the wheel and away from the topmost point of the wheel, such as of a point on an external edge, by a displacement meter having a fixed height, whereby the appropriate required lifting amount (lifter-required displacement) is automatically computed and the wheels are raised to allow the spindle to be appropriately fixed on a consistent basis, the device to be simplified and otherwise improved, and significant reductions to be attained in assembly and adjustment man-hours. The wheel lathe includes a lifter control device ( 4 ) used to control the operation of a lifter device ( 3 ) for raising the wheel ( 1 ) and provided with external-edge position meters ( 5 ) for measuring a point on the external edge of the wheel ( 1 ) and a lifter-required displacement calculator ( 6 ) for computing the lifter-required displacement (H) from the measured value and a known dimensional value.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A wheel lathe for cutting or grinding wheels by raising the wheels, matching a wheelset center to a spindle center, and fixing the wheels; the wheel lathe comprising:
 a lifter device for raising the wheels; and 
 a lifter control device for operating the lifter device to raise the wheels over a distance equal to a lifter-required displacement up to a height at which the wheelset center of the wheels is aligned with the spindle center; 
 wherein the lifter control device includes: 
 external-edge position meters for measuring a point on an external edge of the wheel; and 
 a lifter-required displacement calculator for computing the lifter-required displacement from the measured value of the external-edge position meter and from a known dimensional value needed in order to compute the outside diameter of the wheel or the height of the wheelset center of the wheel, 
 wherein the external-edge position meter is constructed of a measurement device for detecting both the height of a measurement position on a lateral external edge at a point away from the topmost of the wheel, and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center of the wheel, or a measurement device for detecting, while any of the height of the measurement position of the external-edge position meter and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center is set as the known dimensional value, the other of the height of the measurement position and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center. 
 
     
     
       2. The wheel lathe according to  claim 1 , wherein the lifter control device is configured so as to measure the horizontal distance from the wheelset center at a height in a measurement position by detecting a point along the circumference of the wheel at a predetermined height and away from the topmost point of the wheel using the external-edge position meter provided so as to be able to move horizontally at the predetermined height relative to a reference position; and to output both the height and the horizontal distance values as the measured values, or the height as the known dimensional value and the horizontal distance as the measured value, to the lifter-required displacement calculator to compute the lifter-required displacement. 
     
     
       3. The wheel lathe according to any one of  claims 1  and  2 , wherein the lifter device is constructed of two bearing rollers for bearing the wheels and a bearing roller hoisting device for raising the bearing rollers to raise the wheels; is configured so as to control the bearing roller hoisting device using the lifter control device and to raise the wheels over a distance equal to the lifter-required displacement by raising the bearing rollers; and is configured so as to compute the lifter-required displacement using the lifter-required displacement calculator of the lifter control device. 
     
     
       4. The wheel lathe according to  claim 3 , wherein the lifter-required displacement calculator is configured so as to compute the lifter-required displacement by a computational formula from a known dimensional value and a measured value, wherein the distance between the axles of the two bearing rollers of the lifter device, the diameter of the rollers, the height at the center of the spindle, and any one of the values including the height of the measurement position of the external-edge position meter and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center are set as the known dimensional values; and any one or both of the height of the measurement position and the horizontal distance from the wheelset center are set as the measured value of the external-edge position meter.